Lesson 5: Pronunciation is About Practice

 

 

Pronunciation is the way in which a word or a language is spoken. This may refer to generally agreed-upon sequences of sounds used in speaking a given word or language in a specific dialect (correct pronunciation) or simply the way a particular individual speaks a word or language. Practice makes perfect, so do speak English in plenty. Some people think that they do not have the opportunity to practice speaking because they do not live in the US or another English-speaking country. They might also be discouraged because English is not used at their workplace, or they do not know any native speakers. There is some validity in those excuses, but do not let them hinder your learning. Thanks to the growth of globalization and technology, you have more chances than ever to practice speaking English.

 Recording yourself gives you the chance to listen to and critique your English speaking skills. You can take note of things like sentence structure, word choice, pronunciation and fluency. This can give you a better idea of what your strengths are and which areas need more work. Activities that can do to strengthen speaking skills.

·   Retelling a story

The first activity involves narrative story telling. William Stout teaches at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. His specialty is teaching English as a foreign language. He says some speaking activities do not give an accurate picture of your true language skills. But narrative storytelling does. Narrative storytelling is the retelling of a story. It can be a short piece of fiction, such as a program from the VOA Learning English series American Stories, or it can be the retelling of a news event. Or you can talk about something that happened in your own life.

Stout explains that narrative story telling frees your mind from forming complex ideas, which lets you speak more easily in English. On the other hand, he notes, an activity requiring your opinion can slow you down. That is because it forces you to think about your ideas as you say them. For the narrative storytelling activity, Stout says try to provide as many details as possible and aim for a recording of three minutes or fewer.

“Don’t just say, ‘I studied at the library.’ Say, ‘I walked into the library and I thought about where I should sit. And most of the seats were taken, so I looked around and I finally found a spot, but it was near the window. But it was chilly, so I had to keep my coat on.’ Something like that." The goal in giving such detail is not to fill the time, but to speak at a faster speed because you do not have to stop and think of each idea separately.

·   Giving, getting directions

The second activity involves giving and getting directions. Wynter Oshiberu teaches English in the Washington, D.C. area. She works for the International Center for Language Studies and Montgomery Community College. She is also a volunteer English teacher for a nonprofit group called Paper Airplanes. Oshiberu says giving directions is a real-world skill and one you can use almost anywhere. And you can train by yourself if you do not have people to speak English with.

The first step in the activity is to choose a starting point and a destination. For the starting point, she says, choose a place that you know well, like your home or a nearby bus or train station. For the destination, choose a place you need to travel to more often, such as the supermarket, train station, your work place or favorite eating place. Then, record yourself giving the directions. The recording should not be longer than one minute.